Definition
Introspection is the contemplation of our own thoughts, feelings, and sensations. It is self-examination. Introspecting for growth means understanding our own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs so that we can be intentional about our actions and decisions moving forward.
My Experience
For me, introspection goes deeper than reflection. Reflection is thinking about things in the context of situations and experiences. Introspection is part of that, as I examine how I was thinking, feeling, and what beliefs and assumptions I was carrying with me in those moments and why. Introspection is also thinking forward and backwards in the context of myself.
What do I really want to do?
What did I really want to do before?
Why has that changed?
What have I learned?
Are my beliefs/assumptions preventing me from moving forward?
How can I change those beliefs or assumptions?
Introspection is also examining the feelings and emotions oneself. Introspection is the key to unlocking more self-awareness. We put out a lot of emotions (because we experience thousands in a day), whether we realize it or not. It’s often difficult to not provide any clue as to how we feel about things when we talk about them – unless we have no feeling at all associated with a situation.
Mental Buckets as a Tool
Early in my career, I caught myself getting all worked up about work. When I started my undergraduate studies, I realized this was very immature and I sought to change that. I started separating things into mental buckets in my mind. I’m not sure how many in total, but as I reflect on them right now, these come to mind:
- Ethics bucket – Things that no matter what – Are non-negotiable.
- Business bucket – Things that I will not take personally and always see in the context of running a successful business.
- Personal bucket – Things that are and always will be personal.
Creating these mental separations helped me to create healthy boundaries between my personal life and career. To attempt to not bring too much mental energy to work and to save my mental energy for things that required it.
My “ethics bucket” for example separated what was considered normal business versus actions or behaviors that were never acceptable in any context. For me, it’s never saying, “it’s just business” and doing anything unethical. Or anything that violates my personal beliefs or values.
My “business bucket” was the best mental bucket I never made. It helped me to stop taking things personally at work. It also helped me to not be offended by feedback (direct or indirect), to see things in the context of the big picture and to believe that if I didn’t understand something, it might have been due to context that I didn’t have, or things leadership was not allowed to disclose. Not taking things personally is extremely beneficial to one’s career. A great example of this is layoffs – It’s always a very hard decision to implement layoffs, and it’s important that if you are impacted, you know, it’s not you, it’s just the position of the business and you happen to be impacted at no fault of your own.
My “personal bucket” is for everything else.
Closing
If it wasn’t for my introspection and realizing that I needed to change a behavior that was negatively impacting my effectiveness at work – I would have never created these mental separations that have served me well throughout my career.
I will say, sometimes, I must think about something for weeks before I uncover what is going on with me (sounds silly, but if you’ve practiced this enough, you know what I mean). Introspection is not always easy, but it’s extremely helpful and a great tool to unlock your highest potential.
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I love quotes that make me think. Here’s some that get me excited about introspection.
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
– Aristotle
“Take time to be quiet. This is something that we don’t do enough in this busy world of ours. We rush, rush, rush, and we are constantly listening to noise all around us. The human heart was meant for times of quiet, to peer deep within. It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the wings of our own dreams! Schedule some quiet “dream time” this week. No other people. No cell phone. No computer. Just you, a pad, a pen, and your thoughts.”
– Jim Rohn
“The most mature human insight comes from one’s introspection rather than from exterior research.”
– Hugh Downs
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